Breaking Out of the Shell

Half a year passed in the blink of an eye, and the time Babata had promised for the ship's repairs arrived. In truth, it had been nearly ready for six months; the group of four had even taken a trip to Mars to see the mining machinery of an alien civilization, lacking only a light-speed jump engine.

On this day, after Xue Xi finished greeting the last table of guests as usual, Babata sent a message saying that Luo Feng had successfully completed his soul transfer. Because his strength far exceeded that of the Golden Horned Beast egg, it was about to hatch, and he invited Xue Xi to witness the event.

Xue Xi also found it quite novel, so she simply closed the restaurant doors and summoned her Little Wolf mount, preparing to witness the historic event of City Lord Luo breaking out of his shell (though in reality, she was just bored and looking for entertainment).

Little Wolf received the call and soared up from a deep, ancient forest, taking to the sky. Yes, thanks to the Bloodline Evolution Pill and a steady diet of gourmet food, Little Wolf had become the only Stellar Rank beast on Earth—oh wait, there would soon be a Luo Feng beast, so he wouldn't be the only one anymore.

After signing the beast pet contract a year ago, Xue Xi and Little Wolf shared a telepathic connection. Once the hundred-meter-tall giant wolf before her shrank down to the size of a pony, Xue Xi flew onto his back and sat down, transmitting the location of Luo Feng's soul transfer via the contract.

Little Wolf instantly transformed into a streak of silver light and tore through the sky. Xue Xi couldn't help but marvel at the powerful talents of the Howling Moon Wolf. Little Wolf had gained three secret techniques from his bloodline: the first was the Original Body Heaven and Earth, identical to that of the Golden Horned Beast, which allowed him to change his body size; the second was the Phantom Wolf Movement Technique, which could significantly increase his movement speed; and the third was called Howling Moon, which doubled his physical and soul attributes under the bathing of starlight, though it came with a few days of side effects.

His status as a Stellar Rank beast combined with being the pet of the Cat Ear Restaurant owner made Little Wolf a "guardian holy beast" in the eyes of the people of Earth. Every time they went to the restaurant to eat, they would bring fresh meat to feed him, and Little Wolf never refused, stuffing it all into his bottomless pit of a stomach.

At Little Wolf's current speed, King-Level Intelligent Fighter Jets were a thing of the past. A few minutes later, on an isolated island in the Pacific Ocean, Xue Xi jumped off the wolf's back and examined the giant egg flashing with golden light atop a stone pillar.

With the salty scent of the sea breeze and the sound of waves crashing against the shore, if Xue Xi hadn't known better, she would have thought this was the scene of the Monkey King being born.

Seeing Xue Xi arrive, Babata relayed a message to Luo Feng inside the egg: "Luo Feng, Xue Xi is here. You can hatch now."

There was no sound from inside the egg, only the golden cracks on the black shell multiplying until they covered the entire surface, followed by a series of cracking sounds.

Little Wolf, standing beside Xue Xi, seemed to sense a violent aura seeping out and communicated uneasily with her: "Master, I sense a terrifying life force about to be born inside. Should we strike first?"

Xue Xi stroked his bristling fur to soothe him: "Don't be excited. That's Luo Feng inside. You've met him before; this is just his other body."

Little Wolf nodded his head in understanding, a flash of intelligence in his eyes: So it's Luo Feng? It seems I'll have a playmate in the future. Those fragile, low-level beasts can't even take a single slap from me; it's so boring.

On the other side, the golden patterns began to split, and beams of golden light burst forth. Suddenly, a huge but seemingly tender golden horn pierced the top of the shell, followed by hooves, a tail, wings, a torso, and a ferocious head with four eyes on each side!

The Golden Horned Beast broke out of its shell, stretched its body, and finally spread its wings, opening its mouth wide to let out a soul-shaking roar: "ROAR!"

Xue Xi and Little Wolf were forced to close their eyes and seal their sense of smell against the foul-smelling breath. Through the roar, Xue Xi even caught the sound of Luo Feng's telepathic shout: "Finally out! This feels great!"

Holding her nose, Xue Xi flicked a strand of telepathic energy at the giant beast addicted to roaring: "Third Brother! Stop your show! You're going to suffocate your little sister!"

Upon receiving the message, Luo—no, the Golden Horned Beast—abruptly cut off his roaring. He hurriedly clamped his abyss-like maw shut, and Xue Xi was amazed to see a faint blush appear on his black-skinned, gold-patterned face.

Luo Feng quickly transmitted: "Sorry, Fourth Sister. This, this... I didn't know this Golden Horned Beast had such bad breath. Why don't you head back first? I need to hurry up and gestate my human clone."

Seeing that Luo Feng was shy and starting to shoo her away, Xue Xi didn't tease him further. She turned and held out her hand to Babata solemnly: "Babata, the one-year deadline has passed. Isn't it time to give me the repaired spaceship?"

Babata was stunned, then somewhat coyly took out the repaired Black Dragon ship: "Xue Xi, aren't you going to wait for Luo Feng? It would be better to have each other's support when we go to the universe."

Xue Xi covered the ship with the Universe Pot as it began to grow, answering as she tucked it away: "I'll wait, but it's more convenient for me to have the ship. While Luo Feng is gestating his clone, I can travel to nearby planets to avoid boredom."

Babata withdrew his hand, which had been reaching for the ship, and laughed sheepishly: "Oh, oh, I see. Alright then, just don't forget about us when the time comes."